Gretzky future

[pootshwan]

Despite these seeing a large spike in price over the past 5+ months do you still think this is an undervalued card with room to grow? If we take a look at what the Michael Jordan rookie card (which is 7 years newer) has risen to $600,000+, Tom Brady cards, Mantle in baseball, etc. It figures to reason that The Great One still has some catching up to do in terms of pricing. Or does Hockey lack the interest/coverage to ever get to those levels?

[Savard18]

I don't foresee the Gretz rookie ever approaching Jordan rookie status hence value/prices, and certainly not Mantle rookie value/prices...

I mean hockey still is the 4th largest sport in North America and when it comes to collecting has the 4th largest market in North America so there is really a limitation on just how much the card can grow in value.... Of course it's still one of the more valuable and iconic post war cards in the hobby it just doesn't have the appeal to general collectors as perhaps a Jordan rookie or say a Mantle rookie... And you have to really be in an exclusive club to afford a high grade Gretzky rookie, so the Gretzky rookie is in a unique position from a collecting or investing perspective...

Also, iconic cards like this fall into the "would you rather have" category - meaning "would you rather have a PSA 8.5 OPC Gretzky rookie or all the great cards you could buy with the money it would cost to buy a Gretzky rookie".... Of course if you're a collector the Gretzky rookie is the first card on your list and the last card on your list - well unless you only PC Gretzky, or you're just an investor..... So the realistic demand for a high grade Gretzky rookie isn't nearly as high as the others mentioned..... I mean your average "middle class" collector probably has a Gretzky rookie in low or mid-grade and they're satisfied with that - they can sleep easy knowing they have the holy grail of hockey cards in their collection. Obviously they would upgrade if they had the money or opportunity but they're really not in the market for a PSA 8.5 because there are dozens of other cards they would love to add to their PC's over a higher grade version of a card they already own... I would put myself in that "basket".... I have raw Topps and OPC Gretzky rookies in my PC, and I would presume my Topps would grade to a PSA 4 and the OPC a PSA 2, but I'm satisfied, but if I had $15,000-20,000 to spend on cards I wouldn't go straight for the PSA 9 OPC Gretzky RC, lol - if I had that much to spend only on cards I would certainly invest the money in numerous cards that I believe will rise in value over the years to come..

So with all that said - there is no way that the Gretzky rookie will EVER approach the value or status of the Jordan or Mantle rookies - not even the 1951 Bowman Mantle rookie (which BTW, is a really good investment right now)... I suppose my point is that a high grade Gretzky rookie isn't a "must have" if you collect all 4 sports. If you have money and can afford any of them and you favor all 4 sports equally the Gretzky would come in 4th place almost every time.. Well it may come in 3rd considering there is no "clear cut" holy grail in football, I mean if you ask football collectors what the most iconic football card in hobby history you will probably get numerous answers, but without question in post-war hockey it's the Gretzky rookie, in baseball it's the 52 Topps Mantle and in basketball it's the 1986 Fleer Jordan rookie...

Look, just don't invest in a high grade Gretzky rookie with the expectation that it will hit Jordan or Mantle level prices or even popularity, lol...

[pootshwan]

I don't foresee the Gretz rookie ever approaching Jordan rookie status hence value/prices, and certainly not Mantle rookie value/prices...

I mean hockey still is the 4th largest sport in North America and when it comes to collecting has the 4th largest market in North America so there is really a limitation on just how much the card can grow in value.... Of course it's still one of the more valuable and iconic post war cards in the hobby it just doesn't have the appeal to general collectors as perhaps a Jordan rookie or say a Mantle rookie... And you have to really be in an exclusive club to afford a high grade Gretzky rookie, so the Gretzky rookie is in a unique position from a collecting or investing perspective...

Also, iconic cards like this fall into the "would you rather have" category - meaning "would you rather have a PSA 8.5 OPC Gretzky rookie or all the great cards you could buy with the money it would cost to buy a Gretzky rookie".... Of course if you're a collector the Gretzky rookie is the first card on your list and the last card on your list - well unless you only PC Gretzky, or you're just an investor..... So the realistic demand for a high grade Gretzky rookie isn't nearly as high as the others mentioned..... I mean your average "middle class" collector probably has a Gretzky rookie in low or mid-grade and they're satisfied with that - they can sleep easy knowing they have the holy grail of hockey cards in their collection. Obviously they would upgrade if they had the money or opportunity but they're really not in the market for a PSA 8.5 because there are dozens of other cards they would love to add to their PC's over a higher grade version of a card they already own... I would put myself in that "basket".... I have raw Topps and OPC Gretzky rookies in my PC, and I would presume my Topps would grade to a PSA 4 and the OPC a PSA 2, but I'm satisfied, but if I had $15,000-20,000 to spend on cards I wouldn't go straight for the PSA 9 OPC Gretzky RC, lol - if I had that much to spend only on cards I would certainly invest the money in numerous cards that I believe will rise in value over the years to come..

So with all that said - there is no way that the Gretzky rookie will EVER approach the value or status of the Jordan or Mantle rookies - not even the 1951 Bowman Mantle rookie (which BTW, is a really good investment right now)... I suppose my point is that a high grade Gretzky rookie isn't a "must have" if you collect all 4 sports. If you have money and can afford any of them and you favor all 4 sports equally the Gretzky would come in 4th place almost every time.. Well it may come in 3rd considering there is no "clear cut" holy grail in football, I mean if you ask football collectors what the most iconic football card in hobby history you will probably get numerous answers, but without question in post-war hockey it's the Gretzky rookie, in baseball it's the 52 Topps Mantle and in basketball it's the 1986 Fleer Jordan rookie...

Look, just don't invest in a high grade Gretzky rookie with the expectation that it will hit Jordan or Mantle level prices or even popularity, lol...

Good points. Thank you for weighing in on this.